<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>what the hell does marshmallow mean by michellejones_stacy</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27135352">what the hell does marshmallow mean</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/michellejones_stacy/pseuds/michellejones_stacy'>michellejones_stacy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Gay Ned Leeds, Gen, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Ned ships Spideychelle, Please read the beginning notes, That's it, i think this is POV Outsider on Peter/MJ but i don't know, it's only a really vague mention towards it but still, kind of an au but not really, rated teen for mild language, that's the fic, the fic won't make that much sense timeline-wise if you don't</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:40:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,036</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27135352</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/michellejones_stacy/pseuds/michellejones_stacy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Hey, MJ," Ned says, "did you know that Peter has a picture of you as his lock screen?"</p><p>He's expecting MJ to start teasing and poking fun at Peter, which is the norm. But MJ does not do that. She does not do that at all.</p><p>or</p><p>Ned has been trying his hand at playing Cupid for the past few weeks, but Peter and MJ are oblivious. Turns out, though, that the only oblivious one is Ned.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Michelle Jones &amp; Ned Leeds &amp; Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>103</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>All Marvel works that I like (or most of them)</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>what the hell does marshmallow mean</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>two things:<br/>1. Infinity War, Endgame, and Far From Home never happen because i refuse to write anything where (or leading up to a point where) Tony is dead, even if i only mention him in passing here. i live a life of denial, leave me be.<br/>2. i'm picturing that this happens somewhere between Spider-Man: Homecoming and the time where Far From Home <em>would</em> have happened, but closer to Far From Home time-wise. if that makes sense.</p><p>did i manipulate huge canon events for the purpose of writing a completely self-indulgent oneshot? you bet your ass i did. blame my friend Rana for encouraging me when this was just a sentence of dialogue.</p><p>feedback is appreciated :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The thing about Peter is that he’s nice. Ned knows that about him, and he understands that it’s practically physically impossible for Peter to be mean. To anyone. Including people that may or may not deserve it.</p><p>A consequence—and a really annoying one, at that—of being nice is that Peter is sometimes <em>too</em> nice. Not all the time, but enough for it to be a problem. Like when they’re at an assembly and someone asks Peter to move because they want to sit next to their friend, Peter moves. Without question or hesitation. Which means that Ned is sitting by himself in between strangers and MJ while Peter sits in the front five rows down. Which is not fun. (Mostly because Ned can be overly open with strangers and, apparently, people don’t like that, but that’s not the important thing here.)</p><p>Ned isn’t saying that he wouldn’t do the same thing in that situation, because he most definitely would, but that doesn’t matter because there is one key difference between him and Peter: Peter is in love.</p><p>It’s <em>extremely</em> obvious, so much so that it kills Ned to watch him awkwardly interact with MJ—though, now that Ned is thinking about it, their conversations have gotten a little less painfully awkward—and Ned just had to do something about that.</p><p>Anyway, the point is: Peter is nice and sometimes that takes away from him being able to spend time with the one girl who is perfect for him in every way <em>and</em> who is more Ned-approved than Liz was.</p><p>That’s not to say that Liz wasn’t a nice girl in her own right, she was just - a little too much like Peter. Like, yeah, Ned guesses that they would’ve fit well together, but <em>MJ</em> is like the yin to Peter’s yang, the order to Peter’s chaos, the salt to Peter’s ocean. They just <em>work</em>.</p><p>He’s getting off track.</p><p>When a teacher asks Peter to stay behind to help out in the classroom, Peter does it. When Peter sees a janitor struggling to empty a trash can, he helps. (Oh, how Ned wishes he had super-strength—Peter is <em>so</em> lucky.) And those aren’t <em>bad</em> things. Peter is a helpful guy. But, sometimes, being helpful causes Peter to miss part of lunch, and MJ isn’t <em>sad</em>, exactly, she still talks to Ned and makes fun of Flash and stuff, she’s just - less. It’s like Peter opens something in her up and allows it to be unleashed upon the world, and without him there it starts to wither.</p><p>That sounds so weird but Ned doesn’t know what he’s saying, alright, all he knows is that Peter and MJ need to start dating and Peter is too awkward (and maybe a little scared) to do anything about it and MJ is probably feeling the same way, so it’s up to Ned to do what needs to be done in order to push them together. Well. <em>Further</em> together, because they’ve gotten pretty close recently. Not closer than he is with Peter—no one is ever going to be on his level of closeness with Peter, except maybe May—but still close.</p><p>Wait, no, there he goes again.</p><p>Ned needs to find a way to push Peter’s awkward self and MJ’s… self together. He supposes he could just sit down at lunch one day and tell them to go on a date, but that would probably scare MJ off and make Peter hate him for, like, a week, which is practically <em>forever</em>, so. No. He needs to be subtle about, needs to be cunning and crafty. Like a fox.</p><p>Yeah, just like a fox. If Peter can be a spider then Ned can be a fox, okay, it’s not weird. Now that he’s thinking about it, he could probably dress up as a fox for Halloween and get them together then. But that would take too long—all the secret glances and in-love eye contact is starting to get a little nauseating, and if Ned can just give MJ and Peter that one final push over the edge into a relationship together, then everything will be fine!</p><p>But, you see, the thing is that Ned has absolutely no idea <em>how</em> to give them that one final push into a relationship—which is a huge problem, for obvious reasons—but he’s pretty sure that, given enough time, he can figure it out.</p><p>Maybe.</p>
<hr/><p>Alright, so, as it turns out, getting two of your best (and only, but that’s not important) friends together is harder than it sounds. Really, it is. Especially considering the fact that if Ned isn’t careful, MJ will figure it out because the girl is crazy smart and observant.</p><p>He’s tried <em>everything</em>. Literally. Like, one time when they were all studying at Peter’s apartment, MJ and Peter were getting kind of… <em>close</em>, like pressed right up against each other and they were practically holding hands, so Ned, you know, casually suggested that he had to leave and left them alone.</p><p>Okay, maybe yelling, “Oh, would you look at the time, I have to get back home, so I guess I’ll leave you two <em>here</em>, all <em>alone</em>, by <em>yourselves</em>,” wasn’t as subtle as Ned would’ve liked, but it happened in the moment when he didn’t have any control over what came out of his mouth so it wasn’t his fault.</p><p>And maybe that was just the one thing that he’s tried so far, but he’s getting there, alright, he’s just gotta spread out his attempts if he wants to remain incognito.</p><p>Anyway.</p><p>“Dude, are you even listening?” Peter asks, looking crushed, and Ned snaps out of his thoughts knowing that he has just fucked up because <em>no</em>, he <em>hasn’t</em> been listening.</p><p>Peter knows that Ned has problems focusing because he’s been the same ever since they met—it’s been a thing with Ned since way <em>before</em> he ever met Peter, actually—so he doesn’t know why, exactly, Peter still has enough faith in him to actually follow along with a conversation. It’s a nice feeling, to know that Peter trusts him enough to actually be capable of making his brain pay attention to conversations and things, but it’s also the worst feeling in the world because it’s really rare for Ned to pay attention to things for long periods of time. He can’t help it.</p><p>The thing is, Ned probably would’ve been paying a little bit of attention (maybe) if he hadn’t been plotting—in a good way, though, not like evil masterminds plot—and zoned out like he did as a result, but. It’s too late, and it’s not like he can go back in time, so now he has two options: either admit to Peter that he was definitely not listening or lie and say that he was.</p><p>Ned normally isn’t a liar, so he starts to go with the first option, opening his mouth to ask Peter to repeat himself, but then - Peter looks <em>weird</em> sitting across from him at the lunch table, a combination of hopeful and devastatingly sad, MJ nowhere to be seen, which is a bit unusual, now that he’s thinking about it, and Ned knows that only bad things will come from telling the truth. So, for once, he makes a completely out of character decision and says, “Of course I was listening, Peter.”</p><p>Ned is a horrible person.</p><p>Peter’s face melts with relief. “Okay. Sorry, man, you just weren’t responding.” The guilt hits Ned in his chest and claws its way up his throat because <em>wow</em>, lying to your best friend <em>sucks</em>. “So… you’re okay with it?” Ned blinks. He clearly did not think this through because he has no idea what in the world Peter is talking about. “Nothing would change,” Peter rushes out, raising his palms in Ned’s direction. “I mean, things probably <em>would</em> change, but not a lot or anything.”</p><p>This conversation would be so much easier if Ned knew what Peter was talking about, but that’s Ned’s fault for not listening in the first place so he has nothing to complain about. Which sucks, but that’s life.</p><p>Ned has literally nothing to lose at this point—except, you know, making his best friend mad at him because he <em>lied</em>, straight to his face—and he’s already in way too deep to go back now, so he just, continues the lie. God, Ned is never going to get over this. He will take this guilt to his grave and then confess it to Peter when he’s on his deathbed. Or when Peter is on <em>his</em> deathbed. Or maybe even when they’re <em>both</em> on their deathbeds.</p><p>So Ned, straightfaced, arms crossed on the lunch table and staring Peter right in the eyes, says, “It’s fine, dude, I’m totally okay with it,” <em>like a liar</em> and Ned might just go to the bathroom during his next class and cry for half an hour because that’s how he deals with his problems.</p><p>The weird thing is that Ned regrets it, of course he does, but he also… kind of doesn’t? Like, he feels so bad, he’s pretty sure he’s dying on the inside, but Peter looks so happy and relieved and really fucking excited, and Ned knows that he would lie again if it meant putting that look on Peter’s face.</p><p>Which really sucks, because - <em>lying. It’s bad.</em></p><p>This is going to come back to bite him in the ass, and Ned is loathing that day because he knows, he <em>knows</em>, okay, that it isn’t all that far off.</p>
<hr/><p>When MJ finally comes by the lunch table, she sits right next to Peter and gives Ned a searching look. He’s not sure what his face looks like or what MJ gets from it, but she gives a firm nod after a couple of seconds and turns to look at Peter, who’s been staring at her like she saved him from some life-threatening event. Which, knowing MJ, is something that is highly likely to have actually happened.</p><p>Ned can, sort of, understand Peter’s attraction to MJ. Not in a creepy way, or anything like that, he doesn’t have a crush on MJ, he just kind of understands why Peter likes her. Ned is relatively sure that MJ is pretty—he wouldn’t know, it’s not like he likes girls—she’s pretty in an aesthetically pleasing sort of way, at the least—and she’s smart and realistic and whatever, so, yeah, he understands why Peter likes her. Kind of.</p><p>Whatever, it’s not like it matters, what matters is the fact that Ned is going to get his very best friends to start dating, even if it’s the very last thing he does with his life. Well, okay, Ned is sure that he’d like to do more with his life then push his best friends together, like go to college and be able to legally drink alcohol and stuff like that, but supposes he’ll be fine with dying if it means Peter and MJ will get their happily ever after. Because Ned is a nice person like that.</p>
<hr/><p>Over the next two, almost three, weeks, Ned goes through his tactics. He leaves Peter and MJ alone to study, repeatedly, he always makes sure they’re right next to each other anytime they go anywhere.</p><p>At one point, and this is surprising, even to Ned himself, he approaches Tony Stark in the grocery store—<em>the</em> Tony Stark, how cool is it that Peter knows him and that Mr. Stark is basically Ned’s dad by association—and asks him for help to get Peter and MJ together because it’s sickening to see them so hopelessly in love with each other. What’s weird is that Mr. Stark does this really weird thing with his face. Like, his eyebrows raise in surprise but then his mouth twists in sort of an amused smirk at the same time his eyes do this weird sparkling thing. Ned doesn’t know, okay, Mr. Stark is a weird guy.</p><p>Mr. Stark doesn’t end up giving Ned any actual advice, he just sort of - says something really cryptic that Ned knows he’s not going to remember, winks, and then walks down the aisle to pick out a box of Pop-Tarts with a pleased hum. He picked the iced strawberry kind, Ned remembers that. (<em>The</em> Tony Stark eats the same kind of food that Ned does, what a world.)</p><p>Back to the MJ and Peter situation, though. It’s been very slow going. They’ve grown a bit closer, with the hand holding and the cheek kisses—that caused Ned to internally squeal when that happened, though he remained calm as a clam on the outside—but still no official dating status.</p><p>Which isn’t to say that they <em>need</em> to have an official dating status, Ned just thinks that it would be nice to know when they do start dating because then he can reveal all the things he did for them so that he can knock them off their feet and blow their minds and just <em>revel</em> in his genius.</p><p>Ned is a simple guy, alright, and that’s all he wants right now. Well, that and to make it through high school without yeeting himself off of a bridge, but. He’s getting off track again, and that can’t happen, not right now.</p><p>Because now, right now, at this very moment, Ned has discovered something great. It’s lowkey kind of creepy, Ned’s not going to lie to himself, but it’s also kind of cute in the same way.</p><p>Peter has a picture of MJ as his lock screen.</p><p>Ned didn’t mean to see it, okay, he swears he wasn’t, like, snooping or anything, it’s just that he was over at Peter’s house to build Legos last night and Peter was in the bathroom and his phone went off with a notification from Mr. Stark—which was a text telling Peter to remember to brush his teeth, and to make sure he packed his stuff at least an hour before Happy came to pick him up tomorrow to take him to the Tower—which was so insanely awesome, in Ned’s opinion—and Ned just sort of - <em>saw</em> it. You see, totally an accident. It wasn’t like Ned had <em>meant</em> to see it, and it certainly wasn’t like he was already debating secretly unlocking Peter’s phone with his thumbprint when Mr. Stark had texted.</p><p>It was an accident, okay, that’s the explanation that Ned is going with, so the universe just needs to deal with that and let Ned get on with his life.</p><p>Anyway, Ned doesn’t remember the exact day that the picture could’ve been taken. He’s not even sure that he could say that relative week that it could’ve been taken, but he’s grown to expect that of himself.</p><p>In the photo, MJ’s hair is in its usual ponytail thing, same as always, and she has a book open on the lunch table. The only thing is that even though the book is open, she’s not reading it. Instead, she’s staring up at something in front of her with her mouth open like she’s talking and a fierce look on her face—probably Flash, as he’s usually the one to cause MJ to call out at lunch—giving Peter, who Ned assumes is the one taking the picture, a view of her face that’s not profile but not straight-on either.</p><p>It’s cute, he guesses, if you ignore the fact that MJ probably doesn’t know that Peter has a picture of her—that was most likely taken without her consent—as the lock screen to his phone, where anyone, including Ned, can see it.</p><p>He wonders if he should tell her.</p><p>It’s not like it’s a <em>huge</em> deal, like, if you look at the big picture, at the grand scheme of things. Maybe.</p><p>Okay, on one hand, Ned’s not sure about whether or not he should tell MJ because he’s not entirely sure about what the outcome will be. He has an idea, but Ned doesn’t know if the actual situation will go the way he’s hoping it does. On the other hand, telling MJ might cause her to tease Peter, which will only further their relationship down the Road of Dating.</p><p>It’s an exciting prospect, one that Ned is insanely happy about, but, for the first time since he got it into his head to get Peter and MJ together, a sliver of doubt rises in his mind. Having a secret picture of someone can be seen two ways: either as really creepy, or really cute. It all depends on the person. And the nature of the relationship in question. Ned is pretty sure that someone having a secret picture of their significant other is cute, whereas a stranger having a picture of someone they’re obsessed with without the other person’s knowledge is leaning more towards the creepy side of things.</p><p>But that’s not the nature of Peter and MJ’s relationship, okay, Ned is positive that they both like each other and that his reveal of the picture won’t end in disaster.</p><p>And then that calls into question the possibility of MJ already knowing about the picture. Though, if she did know about it Ned thinks that he would’ve heard about it by now, so he goes with the more likely possibility of MJ <em>not</em> knowing about herself being Peter’s lockscreen.</p><p>Boom.</p><p>Honestly, if this last attempt of Ned’s to get Peter and MJ together doesn’t work, he’s going to accept the fact that they’re probably never going to end up together. Or trust the possibility of them figuring their shit out on their own. Yeah, no, he’s going to have to accept the fact that they’re probably never going to end up together—the both of them are absolutely <em>hopeless</em>.</p><p>Anyway, all Ned has to do is bring up the picture at lunch, and everything will work out. Probably. Hopefully. You never know, after all. Peter is notorious for being the most oblivious person ever, and MJ was completely baffled when Jake—a then-new kid who currently is not a new kid anymore and who hangs out with Flash and his jockeys—approached her and asked her out, so.</p><p>Ned is the only one in their little trio to actually be not just book smart. At least he’d recognize if someone liked him. If anyone <em>actually</em> ended up liking him, that is.</p><p>Back on track: Peter, lockscreen, MJ, lunch.</p><p>It’s all coming together.</p>
<hr/><p>It. Is. Happening!</p><p>Ned is practically vibrating in his seat right now, because his opportunity is approaching! He can feel it!</p><p>MJ is sitting across from Ned, picking at a turkey and cheese sandwich, and they’re both waiting for Peter, who’s ten minutes late, an occurrence that’s becoming more and more normal. Ned has half a mind to just blurt out about the lockscreen right now, but he forces himself to be patient—the reveal means nothing if Peter’s not here to reaffirm it.</p><p>On the outside, Ned is portraying his excitement in the most subtle way possible—which means sitting on his hands and bouncing in his sit a little bit—but on the inside, he’s going rampant. Like, jumping on the walls, running on the ceiling rampant.</p><p>He’s just so <em>excited!</em></p><p>Ned catches movement out of the corner of his eye, and he turns his head a little bit because the flurry of movement, and– Yes! The movement is Peter! It’s <em>happening!</em></p><p>Peter has barely taken a seat next to MJ before words are blurting out of Ned’s mouth.</p><p>“Hey, MJ,” Ned says. "Did you know that Peter has a picture of you as his lock screen?"</p><p>Ned is a genius.</p><p>Peter freezes his head snapping up to look at Ned with a panicked expression on his face, but it’s okay—Peter will thank him later.</p><p>MJ looks surprised—which was expected—and she turns her head to look at Peter. Peter looks back with a sheepish expression on his face, and when MJ raises a questioning eyebrow, he pulls out her phone and shows it to her.</p><p>The screen lights up and there’s the picture of MJ.</p><p>Ned is expecting MJ to start teasing and poking fun (in that weird, disgustingly flirty way she does things with Peter), which is the norm. But MJ does not do that. She does not do that at all.</p><p>MJ - her face <em>melts</em>.</p><p>Even with her skin tone, Ned can still see the way her cheeks turn the faintest shade of red, and a soft, “Peter,” leaves her mouth, said on an exhale almost reverently.</p><p>Peter responds in almost the exact same way, his own cheeks beginning to burn up. “I just. I just wanted to always be able to see you.” He winces, red starting to creep down his neck. “That sounded less creepy in my head, I swear.”</p><p>MJ smiles, the soft, fond smile that’s reserved for Peter and Peter alone. “Marshmallow,” she teases, a spark in her eye suggesting some sort of inside joke—which, okay, <em>when did her and Peter start having inside jokes</em>—and. And that’s that.</p><p>Nothing else happens.</p><p>MJ goes back to her lunch, but not before Peter grabs one of her hands in his, and Ned is <em>confused</em>.</p><p>He voices as much.</p><p>“Wh– Okay, <em>hold up</em>. What just happened?”</p><p>They both shoot each other concerned glances before looking back at Ned.</p><p>“What do you mean?” Peter asks.</p><p>Ned looks at Peter, and then at MJ, and then at their hands which are twined together, and then back at Peter. “What do I mean? What do I <em>mean?</em> I <em>mean</em>, what is going on here?” He motions between the two of them. “Why aren’t you two dating yet? Where did I go wrong?”</p><p>MJ’s eyebrow goes up again, and she gives him what Peter calls the <em>Ned Look</em>. It’s only ever been directed at Ned, and Peter says she does it because Ned is either being weird or stupid. Or sometimes both.</p><p>“Nedward,” Peter starts hesitantly. “We <em>are</em> dating. We have been for - almost a month now.”</p><p>Ned’s mouth drops open. “What?! When did that happen?”</p><p>Peter frowns, concern written all over his face. “I told you, like, the day after it happened.” He ignores the smug look that MJ gives him. “At lunch, remember? I had MJ take a little while longer to get here so I could tell you alone.” When all Ned does is blink, Peter’s concern melts into dread. “Oh God, are you actually not fine with it? I didn’t– We didn’t mean to make you feel like a third wheel or anything, if that’s why.”</p><p>Peter keeps going on and on, but Ned has honestly kind of zoned out at this point, too busy going over every interaction he’s watched Peter and MJ have for the past month.</p><p>All the cheek kisses and the hand-holding and the more lovey-dovey behavior than usual. It was staring Ned right in the face the entire time. And–</p><p>“That’s what that conversation was about!” he explodes, interrupting Peter mid-sentence and causing a few people at the tables next to them to look over. “At lunch, with the–” Ned flails, waving his arms around. “With the whole <em>nothing would change</em>.”</p><p>“Uh, yeah,” Peter says, back to confused, his head tilted to the side like a puppy,</p><p>Huh. So, apparently, Ned has been operating under the assumption that MJ and Peter weren’t dating, when they already were. You see, and this is why Ned needs to pay attention and not get caught up in his thoughts, to avoid misunderstanding <em>disasters</em> like this.</p><p>“So,” Ned says, looking for some clarification. “You two are already dating?”</p><p>Peter and MJ nod together. Literally. They sit there and nod in sync. It's creepy, but kind of cute at the same time. Kind of.</p><p>“Huh. Cool,” Ned gushes. “This is <em>too cute</em>. You two are absolutely adorable, you know that, and I was <em>dying</em> watching you interact. With all the <em>looks</em> and the <em>pining</em> and the–” Ned cuts himself off. He was going to say <em>and the <strong>inside jokes</strong></em>, but that thought sparks another sentence. “Okay, so, explain yourselves: what the hell does <em>marshmallow</em> mean?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this was the result of an extreme procrastination session, one in which I procrastinated on just about everything, from schoolwork to the fic I was supposed to update like, two weeks ago.</p><p>find me on <a href="https://michellejones-stacy.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> and come talk to me! about anything! i need some semblance of social interaction, even if it is over the Internet lmao. I'm thinking about taking prompts/requests to regain some of my lost motivation, if you're interested.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>